13 Wishes
by Freedom Fighter
Summary: Dipper and Mabel learn of a secret rock-shaped talisman that grants 13 wishes. But when the whole town learns of its existence, it becomes a mad race to claim it first, as the twins try to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
1. Wish upon a Skull

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

It had to come eventually! This is my first fanfic in the "Gravity Falls" universe! This was a long time coming, and this was originally one of the three pilots I had planned to put out last fall. After a lot of debate, I decided to go ahead to approve this for a full series before you guys even saw the pilot! Hooray!

This is a good time to put this out, since we're still in the midst of the show's unexpected hiatus (although we now know that's less than a month from ending as of this writing), and the good thing is, a lot of characters from the show will appear in this.

We've got to start with the mains, minus Wendy though (she comes in later on in the story), but these are going to be five- to six-page chapters. You can only put so much material in that short of a space.

Onward Aoshima! Oh, and everyone else!

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

* * *

"**TURN IT ON!**" yelled Mabel. "**TURN IT ON, TURN IT ON!**"

Mabel was jumping up and down on a patch of grass off to the side of the Mystery Shack parking lot, in front of a sprinkler. Dipper watched his twin sister scream and shout at Soos, who was standing next to the outdoor water faucet connected to the building. A 20-foot green hose connected the faucet to the sprinkler.

"You heard her, Soos!" shouted Dipper.

Soos saluted at them, acknowledging their request.

"Got it, little dudes!"

With that, he turned the water on. A few seconds later, liquid started flowing out of the sprinkler, in the form of five tandem nozzles which swayed left, right, and side-to-side. The two 12-year olds rejoiced in glee as their clothes became gradually doused in water. It was their best chance at some relief on a hot summer day.

Alas, it was not to be.

"What the marbles?" queried Grunkle Stan, as he came out the front door of his shop. "Does water **LOOK **like it's made of money?"

"Is that a trick question?" shouted Dipper.

"No. No, it's not."

He snapped his fingers at Soos. Soos immediately turned the water off, to the dismay of the Pines twins.

"Awww..." they mumbled.

"Now, stop wasting my money and make me some water! No, I mean, make waste of my money and stop making water? Oh, you darn know what I mean!"

With that, Grunkle Stan stomped back inside. Soos hustled back in after him.

"So much for cooling down. C'mon, Mabel..."

Dipper started to head for the front door. But then he stopped when he did not hear his sister following behind him.

"Mabel? **AAAAAHHHHHH!**"

He screamed in shock upon seeing that the water had caused Mabel's sweater to shrink while she was still wearing it. It was cutting off the circulation to her arms and was making her sweat uncomfortably.

And despite that...

"Dipper, look! I'm a sardine! Blubbity blub blub!"

...she did not seem fazed by it.

**-  
Chapter One - Wish upon a Skull (01.21.03)  
-**

15 minutes later, in the twins' bedroom in the attic...

The sweater Mabel had worn outside had a depiction of a desert on the front of it. In that desert was a partially-dehydrated cat crawling on the sand. And underneath the feline, in block letters, were the words 'SO' and 'HOT!,' with the former in sky blue and the latter in watermelon red.

But now it was only half the sweater it used to be, as made apparent by the fact that Mabel had thrown it onto her bed in two pieces: the front half and the back half.

"You're in a better place now, Mr. Kitty!" Mabel said.

Mabel then spun around to show off the new sweater she had put on: a lime green one with Santa Claus' face on it, along with the words 'He's watching you!' Naturally, Dipper had an objection.

"You do realize it's not December, right?"

To which Mabel replied, "You do realize it's almost July, right?"

Dipper thought about it for a second, and then nodded in understanding.

"Got me on that one. But, seriously, Grunkle Stan needs us in the shop. As in yesterday!"

He started heading for the ladder. Again, though, he stopped when he realized his sister was not following him.

"Mabel, there isn't any water in here!"

"It's not that," Mabel said in response. "It's just... it's so hot! Why do we have to work when it's so hot? There should be like a law or something that prevents us from working when it's so hot! Maybe the weatherman can tell us why it's so hot!"

"You done yet?"

"Wait, one more! I don't understand global warming, but I'm sure someone will say it's so hot! Okay, done!"

Dipper walked towards his bed.

"I sorta agree with you, but it's not like there's any sort of way to wish for it to not be so hot. Unless..."

Dipper gasped, coming to a realization.

"...maybe there's something in the book!"

"Really? 'Cause I was gonna say there might be something in the bo- oh, that is what you said."

Dipper pulled the mysterious book labeled only by its volume number, 3, out from underneath his pillow. He sat down on his bed and he started to flip through it. Mabel stood in front of him, staring downwards at the book.

"**EUREKA!**" Dipper shouted, stopping upon finding a page of interest.

Mabel took a seat alongside her brother and read along as Dipper read aloud.

"'Skull-13. A mysterious artifact that grants 13 wishes. Or so it claims. It turns out that I was only able to make one wish, and then it refused to grant any more. Although it was now useless to me, I buried it somewhere in the woods of Gravity Falls, since I was aware that, in the wrong hands, Skull-13 could bring about the end of the world! The fact that there are no limitations to a person's wish aside from only being able to make one should not sway you to attempt to find it! But if you must, only hold on to it long enough to make your wish and then destroy it!'"

The siblings looked up, each wondering if the warning would deter them from attempting to find it.

"I dunno," Mabel spoke up. "Maybe this is one mystery we should skip out on."

"But Mabel," argued Dipper, in a calming tone, "who knows how long this summer heat wave will last? Or summer, period! I know it sounds crazy, but if we have a chance to cool things down a bit, we should take it!"

"Wait a second! The book says it only gives one wish a person! We're two persons! We get two wishes! That means one of us can wish for it to be cooler, and the other can use the other wish for whatever they want!"

"You're right! But how do we decide who makes which wish?"

Mabel put a hand on her younger brother's shoulder.

"I think we both know what you're gonna wish for. Tee hee!"

"What? You think I'd actually use some mystical mumbo jumbo to wish for Wendy to fall madly in love with me? That's crazy and immoral and you know it!"

"But you'd still be desperate enough to try. Come on, Dip, I know you!"

"Do I look like I'm desperate?"

"Yes. You've been writing the word 'desperate' in the book over and over again!"

Dipper looked down. Sure enough, he had been doing exactly that for the last couple of minutes.

"I don't even remember getting up to look for a pen!"

"The sooner you admit it, the sooner we can start looking for this magical doohickey!"

"Even if I **DID **admit it, we don't even know where to begin looking! This book doesn't even give any clues and it's on the next page."

Sure enough, in plain sight on the very next page, was a crudely-drawn map of Gravity Falls. Well, mostly of the woods around the Mystery Shack, anyway. In addition, there were shorthand notes in the bottom left-hand corner of the page.

"And these must be coded directions of some kind," Dipper quickly deduced. "I guess we should start looking. Ready, Mabel?"

He turned towards his sister, who unsurprisingly already had two hard hats, a shovel, and a pickaxe all cradled in her arms.

"I was ready yesterday!"

* * *

The map had already given them a starting point. Using his brains, Dipper had decoded the directions on the way, so the twins were all set by the time they arrived.

"This should be easy!" Mabel exclaimed. "Where to first?"

Dipper opened his book and turned to the page with the map, along with his decoding scribbles.

"We start by going 75 paces west. Now, moss is known to grow on the north side of trees, so we should go..."

He never finished, as Mabel had already chosen a direction for herself.

"Heh heh heh."

Thankfully, it was actually the direction they were supposed to go, but still...

"Mabel, wait for me!" Dipper shouted, chasing after her.

* * *

The Pines twins made their way over hill and dale, through a rock tunnel, over a fallen tree, across an ankle-deep stream, up one side of a mountain, inside a log cabin at the mountain's peak to take a rest, down the other side of the mountain, and finally through a thicket of untrimmed bushes to arrive at...

* * *

"97, 98, 99, and... 100!"

Dipper stopped counting, having followed the last command on the page.

"That should be it! X marks the spot!"

"Hate to break it to ya, Dip, but all I see is an O."

"What do you mean?"

He took a step forward, and almost went tumbling into a hole. If not Mabel's quick reaction in grabbing his arm, he would have fallen in.

"Oh! Thanks, Mabel!"

Dipper squatted down in front of the hole. He pinched his fingers into the dirt and grinded it between them.

"Hmmm... hasn't hardened yet, so this must've been dug very recently. But the question is who, and how did they know about Skull-13?"

He then felt Mabel tug at his vest.

"Uh, Dipper?"

"Not now, Mabel."

She tugged at it again.

"Dipper?"

"Mabel, please! I'm trying to think!"

She tugged a third time.

"**DIPPER!**"

"**WHAT?**"

She pointed ahead of them. Dipper looked up, and was stunned silent.

The hole was 300 feet away from the Mystery Shack.

* * *

Grunkle Stan was laughing maniacally as he sat behind the counter at the cash register.

"If I didn't know any better, I swear I came up with the idea myself! Kids want to cool down in the summer, so why not build an outdoor swimming pool! I can charge them by the hou- no, wait, by the **HALF**-hour! I'll make twice the money in half the time!"

Soos suddenly walked in from the back, half-covered in dirt. He had something in hand that he wanted to show his boss. So he put it down on the counter.

"What is this, Soos? A rock? I got plenty of them in here already! I don't need one more."

"But it's not a rock!" argued Soos. "It's a..."

Grunkle Stan refused to let him finish, as he picked up the small rock and threw it back at Soos. He caught it with ease.

"I'm paying you to dig a hole, not give me useless junk! Now go!"

"Yes, Mr. Pines!"

Soos picked up the rock and headed out the way he came.

"But I'm pretty sure this isn't a rock," he said to himself.

From far away, it definitely looked like a rock. But Soos swore that every time he pulled it to within six inches of his eyes, it looked more like a small skull covered in dirt.

A skull, that upon blowing the dirt off of it, revealed that it had the number 13 engraved into the back.

"Cool!"

He put it into his pocket, not noticing the eyes come to life for a brief second, glowing a dark red, before going out.

**To be continued...**


	2. Flowing Towards Trouble

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

Well, back for the second chapter! Hope most of you stuck around after the pilot, because the wishes start flying in this one! Who gets them? Read on and find out!

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

* * *

Dipper opened the front door of the Mystery Shack, and then followed his twin sister inside.

"**GRUNKLE STAN! GRUNKLE STAN!**"

Their great uncle did not seem happy to see them.

"Where have you two been? Can't you see that we're up to my armpits in customers?"

Stan pointed to the opposite side of the store, where the twins saw two tourists - a man and his son - perusing the rack of mini-license nameplates. Apparently, any amount of customers was his definition of being 'up to his armpits.'

"Never mind that!" Dipper exclaimed.

He plopped open his book and turned to the page with 'Skull-13' on it.

"Did you dig up something that looked like this outside?"

Stan leaned in and squinted at the hand-drawn sketch.

"Nope. But if this thing here about wishes is true, oh ho... I get first dibs!"

"No fair!" huffed Mabel.

"Tough cookies. As your grunkle, it's my right!"

"You sure you haven't seen it?" repeated Dipper.

Stan nodded. "If I had, Soos would've shown it to me by now."

The twins shot each other knowing glances. They then ran back out the door.

"Thanks!" said Mabel, in gratitude.

"Hey hey, what about the **SHACK**? The midday tourist rush goes on for another 15 minutes!"

He then looked over once more at the father-son pairing, who were trying to decide between buying a number of nameplates: John, Johnny, Jon, Jonny, or Jonathan.

"Whichever one we choose is how you'll spell your name for the rest of your life," the father told his nine-year old.

**-  
Chapter Two - Flowing Towards Trouble (01.28.03)**

The twins ran back to the hole. Soos was now inside of it; he was just starting to dig in a way that flattened out the bottom.

"Hey, Soos! Soos!" Dipper shouted.

The resident handyman looked up from his work, and happily waved hello.

"Hey, mini-dude and mini-dudette!"

"We need to ask you something!"

Soos climbed out of the hole and took a seat on the ground, with his legs hanging off the side. Dipper opened his book and showed him 'Skull-13.'

"Hmmm..."

"So? Have you seen it?"

"We need it! We need it!" Mabel shouted.

"Maybe..."

He reached into his left-side shorts pocket and pulled out a small pebble.

"Nope. Guess not."

Dipper and Mabel frowned in disappointment. Soos flicked the pebble away, and then used the back of his arm to wipe some sweat off of his forehead.

"Too bad. If I had that, I'd wish to be done with this here pool."

Suddenly, Soos' right-side pocket glowed red, grabbing all of their attention. Soos reached in there and pulled it out. As before, at first glance, the object resembled an ordinary rock. But get in close enough, and...

"**THAT'S IT! THAT'S SKULL-13!**" exclaimed Dipper.

At that very second, the glowing, which was coming from its eye sockets, ceased. A little spooked by it, Soos was gladly willing to hand it over to Dipper, but before he could, the three of them heard an unfamiliar sound for that neck of the woods.

The sound of rushing water.

"**WATER, HO!**" bellowed Mabel.

Before they knew it, the twins were swept off of their feet by the raging waters.

"**AAAAAHHHHHHH!**"

Soos, on the other hand, had managed to get to his feet and assume a firm standing position. He kept his balance, not allowing to let the water, which was now swamping past all of them and the Shack as well, to knock him over.

"Gotcha!" he said, reaching out for the twins.

He took Dipper in one arm and Mabel in the other, with the former holding his book above his head to keep it dry. A few seconds later, the flash flood receded as quickly as it had appeared.

"Whoa," gasped Soos, as he put the twins down as soon as it was safe to. "That was epic."

As a result of the flash flood, the hole that Soos had been digging was now completely filled with water.

"Look, guys!" pointed out Mabel. "**A POOL!**"

She ran to the side of the manmade pool, lowered her hands into the water, and started splashing the cool liquid against her face.

"Ha ha!" Dipper said in excitement. "It actually works! It actually works!"

He looked up at Soos, ready to take the trinket and use it himself. There was just one problem.

"Soos, where is it?"

"I must've dropped it when I saved you mini-dudes. It probably got carried away by the raging river."

"**WHAT? **No, no, no, no, no!"

Dipper's mind started racing, as he tried to figure out where the talisman could have been washed away to.

"Let's see... the water was going in this direction..."

He retraced the water's path. He was running around, avoiding standing water puddles left behind, and almost fell into a drainage ditch.

"Whoa! Hello... when did you get here? I don't remember this being here."

Soos and a now-refreshed Mabel joined Dipper at his current location.

"Soos, where does this lead?"

Soos had to think for a minute, as he tried to remember.

"I believe into town, and then, to the lake!"

"Can you give us a ride?"

* * *

Without Grunkle Stan's permission, or knowledge, Soos drove Dipper and Mabel into town.

"We have to find it," Dipper said, as he hopped out of the stopped cart.

"Ugh, forget it," groaned Mabel, as she leaned backwards in her seat. "It's not worth it."

"Shouldn't you be happy? You got to splash water on your face!"

"That was ten minutes ago! I feel like I'm a bazillion degrees already!"

Dipper pulled his sister out of the cart. He had some difficulty, though, given her sweater was sticking to the seat's upholstery. Once she was out, the twins began their search.

"Okay. By my calculations, that sudden rush of water was more than enough to overwhelm the town's drainage system. So some of it must've flowed into Gravity Falls instead of making it out to the lake!"

They made their way to Main Street. As Dipper predicted, there was evidence that water had unexpectedly rushed through there. They were also fortunate that it was also Flea Market Day, so there were more people in town than usual. Almost all of them were locals, though, as the sudden flash flood had scared off any tourists that had been there from sticking around.

"Alright, move along!" Sheriff Blubs said, waving his arms at the trio. "Nothing to see here."

The sheriff and his partner, Deputy Durland, were in the midst of taking stock of the situation. They were searching for both serious water damage and for any injured. Thankfully, both appeared to be absent from the scene.

"Flea market's closed 'cause of the flood, kiddies."

"Man, that water rushed in like it had a score to settle with some guy that jilted her for another woman!" stated Deputy Durland.

"Sheriff!" Dipper said, reaching for his book. "Can you tell me if you saw this wash up anywhere?"

But before he could get to the right page, Blubs stopped him.

"I don't have time for that nonsense! Now get!"

The two officers pushed Dipper, Mabel, and Soos back down the street they had come from, and then left them. The pair then walked off to resume their investigation.

"Now what?" Mabel asked. "They'll never let us look around!"

Dipper, though, was not one to give up so easily. He had a plan.

* * *

A few minutes later, Blubs was examining a business card that someone had handed him. He and Durland looked at the card carefully. It read 'I.M. Le Geet, Insurance Claims Adjustor.' The two lawmen kept looking back and forth between it and the person it belonged to, a very tall man in a trench coat who was having a tough time standing up straight, as his torso swayed from one side to the other, and back.

Once he had gotten his upper body under control, Blubs made a decision.

"If you need anythin', just holler!" he said, handing the card back.

"I'll be sure to, hyuck, hyuck!" responded the man.

The two officers walked away. Once they were out of hearing range, Dipper's head popped out at about where the man's waist would be.

"How come I'm the bottom? It's my plan!"

Mabel, who was the top, twirled the fake mustache attached to her face as she looked down at him.

"I was the bottom last time!"

Dipper scoffed. "Fine. Let's just get this done before we get found out."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the far end of Main Street, someone you would never expect to see trotting through a Flea Market was doing exactly that. And her two cling-ons were showing their displeasure of doing so as they did.

"It helps to parade around the little people every once in a while," Pacifica Northwest explained to her posse. "Seeing them scrap by to make ends meet by selling their junk... it makes me more thankful for what I have."

Her two girl friends nodded in agreement, understanding Pacifica's reasoning. Pacifica led them into the Flea Market, feigning interest in the wares of the many vendors. Not that many of them were in the selling mood as they cleaned up their stalls and carts from the flash flood.

Suddenly, Pacifica stopped.

"Wait."

Something had caught her attention. She walked over to a guy selling cheap, knock-off jewelry. Normally, she would not be caught dead wearing it. But there was something about this particular object that screamed at her.

"I've seen this before. But where?"

She snapped her fingers, which was her cronies' signal to look for the vendor so she could strike a deal.

* * *

Mabel scanned the merchants and their sales items as Dipper carried her down the street. So far, their search had turned up nothing.

"You see anything?" Dipper asked, from underneath the coat.

"Nuh uh."

Suddenly, she looked ahead, about five carts down.

"Is that... Pacifica?"

Dipper snickered. "Yeah, right! Pacifica, in a flea market?"

Mabel pulled out some binoculars out of the trench coat pocket and aimed it at Pacifica. She saw that the blonde-haired girl was buying what looked to be a rock. Of course, a zoomed-in view told a different story.

"**THE SKULL!**"

Mabel jumped out of the disguise before Dipper even knew what was going on. Meanwhile, Pacifica had finished her transaction and was walking away.

"I can't believe he didn't even know he had that," Pacifica laughed. "He said it just washed up there! If this is what I think it is, it's **WAY **more than the five bucks I just paid."

Her friends snickered, even though they were just as clueless about the object as the vendor was.

"**PACIFICA!**"

"Ugh," the blonde groaned, upon hearing Mabel's voice. "It's Mabel."

"**PACIFICA!**"

"Why'd she ever come to Gravity Falls? I wish she'd just disappear!"

The eyes on Skull-13 came to life, glowing red. Mabel, who was charging straight for Pacifica, suddenly vanished. And Dipper, having just escaped from the trench coat, had seen his sister disappear before his eyes.

"**AAH! MABEL!**"

**To be continued...**


	3. Nagging a Northwest

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

Last time, Pacifica entered the picture and made Mabel disappear! Can Dipper get his sister back?

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

* * *

"Mabel? Mabel, where are you?"

Dipper had finally managed to worm his way out of that large trench coat they had borrowed, and was now running over to the spot where his sister had just vanished before his very eyes.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man! This isn't good! Mabel's gone!"

Dipper started pacing in circles, trying to think of what to do.

"Okay, think Dipper, think! Let's see..."

He started to piece the last minute or so together.

"...we were walking. Mabel said she saw Pacifica. She asked for binoculars. And then yelled..."

Dipper froze as he put it all together.

"**PACIFICA HAS SKULL-13!**"

**-  
Chapter Three - Nagging a Northwest (02.04.03)  
-**

In the time it had taken Dipper to realize the obvious, Pacifica and her posse had walked off, departing the market in the direction that they had originally come from. He began a mad search for the town founder's descendant.

"Her family's loaded," Dipper thought out loud, "so there's no way she walked all the way here from her place!"

Dipper tried to think.

"Okay. If I was a 12-year old multi-millionaire heiress window shopping in a town like Gravity Falls, where would I go? Hmmm..."

* * *

Dipper decided to search for Pacifica in Gravity Falls' high-end shopping district. In this town, that district consisted of two shops. Zinc's, which was Gravity Falls' only jewelry store...

"Pacifica?" he asked, sticking his head in the door.

There was no sign of Pacifica, but he was staring straight into the brass buckle on the belt that held up the pants of the store's security guard.

"Little man, only patrons with a credit limit of at least $1000 may enter."

Dipper nodded in agreement. "I see. So... what's a credit limit?"

* * *

"**AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!**"

The guard literally kicked Dipper out of the store, sending the little 12-year old flying into a water trough on the opposite side of the street. Now dripping wet, he climbed out of it and used his hands to wring the liquid out of his shirt, shorts, vest, and, lastly, his hat.

"Well, that was a bust."

Lucky for him, being booted out of Zinc's put him in front of the other shop in the town's high-end district. That happened to be Christie Christies, the local designer boutique.

"Maybe she's in here?"

He walked in the front door and started calling out for her.

"Pacifica?"

He had barely gotten both feet inside when he was confronted by the store manager, who was a woman. Dipper sheepishly waved hello.

"Uh, hi?"

She pointed at a sign at the entrance designating what was not allowed in the store. Dipper read it aloud.

"'No food, no drink, no pets, and no minors dripping in with wet clothes.' Wow. Isn't that last one a little specific?"

The woman growled.

* * *

"**AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!**"

The manager literally kicked Dipper out of the store, sending the little 12-year old flying into a water trough on the opposite side of the street. Once again, he was dripping wet.

"Nice!" he shouted sarcastically. "Very, very nice!"

He climbed out of the trough and used his hands to wring the liquid out of his shirt, shorts, vest, and, lastly, his hat.

"Well, now what?" Dipper asked himself.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of laughing from nearby. Haughty laughing.

"There's only one person I know that's rich enough **AND** the right age to laugh in such a condescending manner!"

* * *

Three doors down, Dipper found himself staring into the only bookstore in town. And there, in plain sight, three rows back, was Pacifica Northwest. And she was in the midst of another bout of laughter. This one sound more joyful than the previous ones.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so glad that girl's gone. She was such a pest!"

She laughed once more, and Dipper could also hear her cronies joining in. He started getting angry, as he figured there was only one girl he knew that Pacifica did not like.

Mabel.

"**PACIFICA!**"

Dipper stomped into the bookstore, upset over Pacifica's reaction to making Mabel disappear.

"Oh, you're Mabel's twin, aren't you? Hey, girls, it's Mabel's dorky twin brother!"

Pacifica's girls started laughing at Dipper. But he ignored them, as he only had an issue with...

"Pacifica! I can't believe you! I know you never liked Mabel, but I can't believe that you'd go so far as to laugh gleefully after making her disappear?"

"What?"

"What? What do you mean 'What?' You gonna deny it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"But I just overheard you saying that you're glad that Mabel's gone!"

"What? No, I didn't!"

Pacifica snapped her fingers, and one of her cronies handed Dipper a magazine titled 'Northwest Monthly.' The main headline on the cover was 'Top 10 Northwestians Under 18,' and who else but Pacifica herself was the cover girl. The second crony then pointed out the names listed. 'Pacifica Northwest' was first, in large letters, and underneath her name was 'and others including Jessica Moore...'

"I was talking about Jessica Moore. She thought because her dad's an A-list actor and her mom is a music superstar that she'd be on the cover. As if! Daddy made sure that would never happen. He bought out the company that publishes the magazine."

"So you **WEREN'T **laughing about Mabel?"

"Why would I? She's so not worth it. Speaking of which, aren't you two supposed to be inseparable or something?"

"She's not here, Pacifica, because **YOU** made **HER **disappear!"

Pacifica's friends gasped in shock.

"You're cray cray."

"I'm not cray cray! You used that trinket to wish her away!"

Dipper pointed at Skull-13, which Pacifica happened to be holding in her right hand this whole time.

"Oh, this?"

"Gimme that!"

Dipper dived for Pacifica's hand, but she moved out of the way.

"It's mine! I paid actual money for this! As in paper money! Besides..."

She raised her left arm to show that she had something in that hand as well. It was a hardcover book with the title 'Magical Trinkets, Talismans, and Doodads That May or May Not Exist.'

"...if this is what I think it is, then I've got just the wish for it."

Dipper dived for Pacifica a second time. Again, she dodged it. She had no intention of waiting for Dipper to try a third time, as she ran for the exit.

"**HEY!**" Dipper yelled. "Come back here!"

Pacifica ran past the snoozing clerk at the register, followed by Dipper, and then Pacifica's two girls; the latter one left some money on the counter to pay for both the book and the magazine.

* * *

Pacifica ran outside and bolted in the direction of her limo. Dipper tried to chase her down as she opened the book and started flipping through it. After finding the page she was searching for, she stopped running.

"**I KNEW IT!**" she exclaimed.

Dipper stopped a few feet away as Pacifica spun around to face him. Her two friends ran past Dipper to join their 'leader.'

"This is Skull-13, which grants up to 13 different people one wish apiece! And I know exactly what to wish for!"

"No, Pacifica! You can't do that!"

She smirked. "Watch me!"

She raised the skull talisman above her head.

"I, Pacifica Northwest, wish to wish to make all 13 wishes!"

Upon hearing that, Dipper started laughing out loud.

"Oh, come on, really? Everyone knows wishing for more wishes never works."

"Hmm. Point taken."

"Ha! Dipper one, Pacific zer-"

"We're not keeping score."

Pacifica raised the talisman up to try again.

"Remember when I found out that my ancestor wasn't actually the one who discovered Gravity Falls? Well, I wish for history to change, so that my great grandfather Nathaniel Northwest actually **DID** discover Gravity Falls! Ha! Am I smart or what?"

When the trinket did not activate at all, it was Dipper's turn to smirk.

"I'd go for 'or what.'"

Pacifica started shaking the trinket furiously.

"Ugh, I'm doing what this book says! Is this thing deaf or something? **OOF!**"

Out of nowhere, Waddles appeared, jumping up on to Pacifica's back and pushing her to the ground. As she went down, her arm went flying up and she lost her grip on Skull-13. It flew right in Waddles' mouth, which only was apparent to everyone after he had landed on the ground.

"Oink oink!" Waddles squealed.

The eyes on the skull lit up red. A split second later, Mabel reappeared in the exact place she had first vanished. That meant she was in a full sprint when she barreled right into Dipper, who happened to be standing two strides in front of her. The twins fell to the ground.

"Dipper!" Mabel shouted. "H-how did you get in front? You were behind..."

Dipper cut his sister off, giving her a hug. "Mabel, you're back!"

"Back? Where did I go?"

Meanwhile, Pacifica's friends were picking her up off the ground. And she had dirt and mud on her face and on the front of the clothes.

"You mean... I actually... used my wish..."

"Yep," Mabel nodded, figuring it out, "but Waddles here used his wish to bring me back!"

She squatted down in front of Waddles and started rubbing him all over.

"Wisn't wat wight, Waddles?"

"Oink!"

"**ARGH!**" growled Pacifica, before spinning around and stomping off.

"Sorry!" Dipper shouted after her. "Better luck next time!"

With Pacifica out of the picture, Dipper reached down and pulled Skull-13 from Waddles' mouth.

"Blech," he said, shaking it to get off all the pig slobber.

"You're making your wish already?" questioned Mabel.

"Yes. I need to do it before something else happens to this thing."

Suddenly, there was a freak rumble of thunder in the air.

"**AAAAHHHH!**"

It had spooked Dipper so much that the trinket went flying out of his hand and into the air. It eventually flew into the passenger-side window of a station wagon that happened to be driving by at that very second, heading past the twins and into town. Dipper and Mabel watched as the vehicle got halfway up Main Street and then made a left turn, disappearing from sight.

Dipper sighed.

"And... there it is."

**To be continued...**


	4. Bramble Point

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

"Gravity Falls" is back! As is this fanfic, after a much, much shorter one-week off. Last time, Pacifica had a hold of Skull-13, but thanks to Waddles, that's no longer the case. Who has it now?

After this, maybe the twins might be wishing it was still Pacifica...

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

* * *

"I can't believe this!" grumbled Dipper. "We get it away from Pacifica, and then, boom, it's in someone else's hands! This is just great!"

"**I GOT IT!**" Mabel screamed.

Dipper turned to his sister, who happened to be holding out Waddles' tongue in front of his snout so that he could sniff it.

"Waddles had it in his mouth, right? Well, all he has to do his pick the skull's scent off of his tongue, and he can lead us right to it!"

Suddenly, Waddles squealed, as if he had gotten it.

"Alright, Waddles! Go get it!"

Mabel stood back to let Waddles do his thing. The chase began...

...of Waddles chasing his own tail. Dipper groaned as Waddles just ran around in circles until Mabel finally decided to stop him.

"Sorry, Dip," Mabel apologized. "Guess Waddles is out of miracles this week."

Waddles let out a remorseful oink.

"It's okay. Look, it's a small town. If we canvass it like we did back when Wax Grunkle Stan lost his head, we might be fortunate enough to find it by sundown. But the question is... where do we start?"

**-  
Chapter Four - Bramble Point (02.18.03)  
-**

In what would be considered the suburbs of Gravity Falls, where arguably 90 percent of the area's population resided in a mix of single family homes and trailers, a light blue station wagon was slowly making its way through the streets. And driving it was Thompson, who seemed very apprehensive about doing so.

"Okay, Thompson," he told himself aloud. "You have to be firm this time! Seriously! If Mom finds out my friends were punching the roof again..."

He was completely unaware that there was something in his car that did not belong there.

"...I'm not gonna get grounded. Just... just gotta be firm. 'Guys, you can't punch the roof anymore.' No, wait, that won't do..."

He drove over a bump in the street, and upon doing so, Skull-13 bounced up from the floor in the rear of the car and then back down. But since Thompson's eyes were on the road and not looking in his rear-view mirror, he did not see it.

"How about 'stop punching the roof, guys!' No, that's too forceful..."

Suddenly, he had to make a hard right turn. In doing so, the talisman rolled all the way to the left side of the vehicle.

"Wait! Got it! Ahem... 'I wish that you guys would stop punching the roof!' Yeah, that's it..."

There was a bright flash of red light, and this time it got Thompson's attention.

"**AAAHH!**"

In fright, he quickly slammed on the brakes, bringing the station wagon to a screeching halt. In the process, the trinket rolled forward, heading towards the front of the car. But it never made it all the way to the pedals, as it became stuck in a wad of gum underneath the driver's seat.

Meanwhile, Thompson took the time to look behind him, in attempt to find where that red light had come from. He searched for about ten seconds before giving up.

"Don't have time for this! I'm late as it is!"

He pressed on the accelerator and was moving again, still none the wiser about what he now had in his parents' car.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dipper and Mabel began their search on Main Street. At the very least, they could take stock of who was still at the Flea Market, which would reduce the number of people's houses that they would have to visit otherwise.

"Okay, uh huh, got him..." Dipper mumbled, marking people off from his checklist. "So far, so good..."

"**HEY!**"

Dipper turned around and saw Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland heading his way.

"Uh oh."

Dipper started running, and so did the cops.

"Gotta lose 'em, gotta lose 'em!"

He ducked underneath a hollowed-out box, which served as the counter for Manly Dan's stand. The lumberjack was selling his old axes.

"Be a man!" he shouted. "Buy my axe!"

The officers ran right past, and Dipper let out a relieving chuckle.

"Heh heh..."

Then, without warning, Manly Dan had demonstrated how sharp his axes still were, by using one to chop his counter completely in half!

"**WHOA!**" screamed Dipper, who just avoided getting his legs chopped off from the knee down by pulling them towards him in time.

Hearing Dipper's yelp, Manly Dan separated the two halves, revealing the pre-teen boy he had almost dismembered.

"I'll just be going now," Dipper said, getting up and running away.

Dipper quickly got out of sight before the sheriff could double back, this time ducking into a small alley.

"Whew..."

"**BOO!**"

"**AAAAHHHHH!**"

Dipper had nearly jumped out of his shorts, thinking he had been caught. But he then his sister's girlish giggles from behind him.

"Gotcha!"

"Yeah, yeah. How's the list coming?"

The two siblings were about to compare lists when the sheriff's voice filled the air. He was heading towards them, and Dipper covered his sister's mouth, urging her to keep silent until they were gone.

"We don't have time for this!" grumbled Sheriff Blubs. "Tonight's the Night of the Twinkling Stars at Bramble Point. You know what that means!"

"Yep!" exclaimed Deputy Durland. "Teenagers suckin' face!"

"I'll get the popcorn; you get the tasers!"

The two laughed out loud as they split up to prepare for their shift.

"Teenagers? That's it!"

Dipper had suddenly remembered whom he knew in town that owned a station wagon.

"It's one of Wendy's friends! Thompson! That must have been his car that we saw drive off with Skull-13! We've got to get up to Bramble Point! C'mon!"

He grabbed Mabel by the arm and pulled her away, as they tried to find where Soos was.

* * *

Meanwhile, Thompson had finished picking everyone up. Robbie was riding shotgun, Wendy and Tambry were in the middle row, and Nate and Lee were sitting in the back row. Before he could begin the drive to Bramble Point, though, he had something he had to chase.

"Now, I'm gonna say this again, guys, but I really, really wish you guys wouldn't punch the roof. You're gonna get me grounded!"

Everyone looked at each other, unsure how to respond. Thompson heard the silence and immediately assumed they were going to ignore him again.

But then they all started responded with 'sure' or 'okay' or some other similar variation.

"That actually worked?" he asked himself. "Maybe they respect me. What if..."

He decided to make another request.

"Also, I wish you guys would stop writing things on the roof."

By the time he had finished his sentence, all of them had already pulled out markers and were adding new things to the roof. Except for Tambry, but that was because she was texting furiously on her phone. Thompson sighed.

"Shoulda quit while I was ahead."

As he put the station wagon in drive, he was still oblivious to the presence of the mystical object resting right under his butt. Literally.

* * *

The Pines twins had found Soos, and now they too were beginning the trek up to Bramble Point. But the big man was having reservations about doing so.

"I dunno, little dudes. Bramble Point, that's for, uh, not-so-little dudes."

"Doesn't matter," Dipper said in response. "If Pacifica knew what Skull-13 was, there's a good chance that other people do as well! We can't take the chance that they'll find it and use it to do something bad."

"You mean take all the pimples in the world and combine them into one giant zit that's bigger than half of Oregon?" suggested Mabel. "'Cause that would be the best thing **EVER**!"

"Okay," Soos relented. "But if anyone asks, you hitched a ride without asking me. Got it?"

The siblings nodded.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time the teens had reached the heights of Bramble Point. Thompson turned off the engine to the car, and the six of them all hopped out. It was clear, crisp night. Not too hot that they were sweating, but also not too cold that they were freezing either. Basically, it was the perfect night for whatever they were planning.

And Robbie was not going to waste a single moment of it.

"Hey, Wendy?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go check out some stars and junk with me?"

He held out his left hand, inviting Wendy to grab it.

"Sure!"

She did. And as the two headed off, they left the others to fend for themselves.

"Let's go mess with those chipmunks!" suggested Lee, pointing at a few of them around a nearby tree.

"Yeah, man!" said Nate in agreement.

They ran off, and Thompson was about to follow him. But then he noticed Tambry, texting all by her lonesome self as she leaned against the car.

"Tamb!"

He tossed the keys to her, and she pulled one of her hands away from her cell just long enough to catch it before going right back to what she was doing. With the guys picking on the wildlife and Robbie and Wendy likely already making out somewhere, Tambry decided to just sit and wait inside the vehicle. She managed to open the driver-side front door, but just as she was about to get in, her phone fell out of her hands and slid under the driver's seat.

"Great," she mumbled sarcastically.

She squatted down and reached underneath the chair to find her missing phone. A few seconds later, she pulled out what she thought was it.

But instead, it was a small skull.

"Whoa."

**To be continued...**


	5. Status Upgrade

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

Nothing says dangerous like putting a magical object in the hands of a teenager, right? Strap in as someone gets way more spotlight than Dipper and Mabel! Who could it be?

It's the last person you'd ever expect...

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

* * *

Dipper, Mabel, and Soos were still en route to Bramble Point, trying to locate Thompson, whom they believed was currently in possession of Skull-13.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Dipper asked.

"I'm givin' her all she's got, Cap'n!" replied Soos.

"Well, that's not fast enough! If Thompson has found that talisman, who knows what he and the other teens are doing with it!"

"**ARRR!**" growled Mabel. "Keep yer pantaloons on!"

For some reason, Mabel was now wearing a pirate hat on her head and an eyepatch over her right eye. She was also holding a shirt hanger in her left hand and there was a papier-mache parrot resting on her right shoulder.

"Where'd you get all that?"

"From the pirates back by the lake."

* * *

On the waters of Lake Gravity Falls, a ship full of actual pirates was heading towards Scuttlebutt Island.

"There be treasure on that isle, sez I!" their leader exclaimed.

* * *

"Funny," Dipper chuckled, "I thought pirates these days only lived in Pittsburgh."

Mabel groaned, and then blew a raspberry, while Soos just shook his head in dismay.

"What? That was a good one!"

"No, Dipper. It wasn't."

**-  
Chapter Five - Status Upgrade (02.25.03)  
-**

Tambry had just dropped her cell phone underneath the front seat of Thompson's car. She was using her hand to feel for it.

"Ha!"

She pulled out what she thought was her phone. But it was actually a small skull. Skull-13, to be exact.

"Whoa."

She moved it over to her right hand, which allowed her to use her left to reach under the chair once more. This time around, she did pull out her phone.

"Yes!"

She had a smile on her face as she took a seat in the station wagon. She placed Skull-13 on her lap, and then proceeded to text about it. It read 'Status Update: Found weird miniature skull. Freaky.' Once she had posted her message, she temporarily put down her phone on her lap and picked up the talisman. She started examining it, turning it one way and then another, eyeballing every dent, dimple, and eyehole.

"Weird."

She took her phone with her other hand and stood up.

"Maybe the guys would like..."

Before she could finish, she stopped, as she had remembered that Lee, Nate, and Thompson had all walked off. And who knows what Robbie and Wendy were doing.

"Great," she grumbled, sarcastically.

She posted another message. It read 'Status Update: Bored. Most romantic spot in town. Alone. Dumb boys.' After sending that one, Tambry slid downward until she was sitting on the dirt road, in between the inside of the car and the fully-ajar door.

"If only I was Wendy right now. Lucky girl."

She started talking to herself... not that anyone was close enough to hear her rant.

"She gets to date all the cute guys. It's like they all think she's the only single teen in town! **HELLO!** There are actually two of us!"

She then held up Skull-13 at eye level and stared at it. She sighed.

"Man... I... 'I wish I was the most popular girl in Gravity Falls!'"

Without warning, the eyes of the talisman lit up red, and Tambry was engulfed in a bright beam of white light, which nearly blinded her. Skull-13 worked its magic, as its effects spread throughout the entire town...

* * *

"What do you think?" Robbie asked, with a smirk on his face.

"Whoa!" gasped Wendy. "This place is radical, man!"

The two were standing near the edge of the highest path-accessible point of Bramble Point, better known as Lover's Leap. Mostly because numerous signs lined the edge of the cliff, all reading 'Danger: Steep Cliff!'

But Robbie was not interested in hanging over the edge. All he wanted to do was stargaze with Wendy. Well, at least for starters...

"Over here!"

Robbie was sitting down with his back against a big boulder. He was ushering Wendy over with one hand while pointing at the sky with the other. As she drew closer, Robbie slid down so that he was now lying flat on the ground, looking up. Wendy laid down next to him.

The two then were silent as they stared up at the night sky, and all the stars that were in it. Wendy was completely entranced, as her eyes scanned for constellations. Meanwhile, Robbie had decided that the only thing he wanted to look at right now was Wendy.

He moved his right hand over so that it was resting on top of Wendy's left hand. Robbie was just close enough that, even in the darkness of night, he could spot Wendy smiling after feeling his touch.

"So, uh, Wendy? There's something I want to say."

Wendy turned her head towards Robbie. "Yeah?"

"The thing is, Wendy, that I..."

As Robbie spoke, the magical wave from Skull-13 swept over them, without them even knowing.

"...need to go talk to Tambry!"

Robbie got up and headed back down the path, leaving a befuddled Wendy behind.

"Okay, man, whatev."

She went back to stargazing, and gasped when she located a constellation. A certain seven-star one, which she easily identified as...

"The Little Dipper!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Soos had pulled into the Bramble Point entrance, coming off the main asphalt road and moving onto an assortment of dirt- or pebble-covered paths. As Soos drove onto the main one leading up to the highest plateaus, the magical wave from Skull-13 washed over them.

"Di-did you feel something?" Dipper asked, looking at his sister.

"Uh uh," answered Mabel.

* * *

The light had finally subsided around Tambry, and Skull-13's eyes faded back to black. Frightened and confused, she got up and threw the talisman. It landed about 15 feet away, in the grass, and it rolled until it bumped into a nearby tree, which halted its movement.

"What... was that?"

Tambry whipped out her phone to post yet another message. Once she was done, she attempted to calm herself down. Upon feeling her heartbeat return to normal, she thought of what to do next.

She decided to go pick up the skull.

"I knew Gravity Falls wasn't always normal, but... this?"

The grass around the tree was a little taller than expected, but Tambry was able to find Skull-13 after a little bit of searching on all fours.

"Tamb!"

Hearing a familiar voice, Tambry turned around. The other guys had returned from fooling around with the local wildlife.

"What's going on?" Nate asked. "Lose something?"

"Well," Tambry replied, "I..."

Lee pushed Nate down onto the ground. "She obviously did! Look for it!"

Nate got up and started shouting back at Lee. "Why don't you look for it?"

"Maybe I will, 'cause it's Tambry's!"

"Oh, no! If it's Tambry's, then I want to look for it!"

The two of them started crawling around on the ground. Tambry got up and out of the way, even though she was already holding what she had been searching for.

"Better be careful, Tamb!" Thompson told her. "There's dangerous animals around here!"

Thompson then assumed a defensive martial arts position. He then circled around Tambry, with his back to her at all times, ensuring that nothing could get to her without going through him first.

"Uh, thanks?"

Tambry did not know why the guys were acting so strange. Nate and Lee looked as if they were ready to kill each other just to find what she had lost; the keyword was 'had,' since she was already holding said object. And Thompson was acting as if he was her bodyguard.

Again, Tambry whipped out her phone. She typed the words 'Status Update: Guys are back. Acting like guys. And I don't mean like guy guys. Just guys. Head scratcher?'

She put away her phone and started walking back towards the car. As she did, though, Thompson continued to orbit around her. Or, at least tried to. In attempting to keep up with Tambry, Thompson tripped over his own feet and fell down. But where Thompson had failed, Nate and Lee were there to pick up the slack, as they abandoned their needless search and followed Tambry back to the car.

Taking a seat with her legs outward, Tambry again pulled out her cell. But before she could finish typing, she stopped because something was blocking what little light she had.

Or, rather, three someones, as the guys were all gathered around her, gazing downward at either the top of her head, her phone, or who knows what.

"Personal space much?"

She moved inward, so that she was now entirely in the car, and closed the door. She reached up to the roof and turned on the interior light so she could see better. But just as she started typing again, the guys had gathered around the window. And they were chanting her name.

"Tam-bry! Tam-bry! Tam-bry!"

"**YOU GUYS ARE GETTING ANNOYING!**" she yelled at them. "Don't you guys have someone else to bother?"

Suddenly, it hit her.

"Unless..."

Tambry posted a new message. 'Status Update: Dreams **DO** come true! I'm **POPULAR**!' followed by at least a dozen teeth-baring grinning emoticons. She then remembered that she was holding the talisman, so she examined it once more.

She waved the boys away from the door so that she could open it and get out.

"I wonder what else this can do," she thought aloud, as the guys gathered around her again.

Suddenly, the four teens heard a noise, as if someone had stepped on a fallen tree branch. They all turned towards the source, as a tall person began to step out of the darkness. Upon seeing who it was, Tambry began to panic.

And by panic, that meant talking in a cold, condescending tone.

"Popularity blows."

**To be continued...**


	6. Mad Scramble

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

A lot happens in this week's chapter, as wishes are plentiful this time around! But are they worth it?

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

* * *

Tambry waved the boys away from the car door so that she could open it and get out.

"I wonder what else this can do," she thought aloud, as the guys gathered around her.

Suddenly, the four teens heard a noise, as if someone had stepped on a fallen tree branch. They all turned towards the source, as a tall person began to step out of the darkness.

"Greetings, dudes!" he exclaimed.

Soos came up to the group, and he was bearing a gift: a bouquet of grass blades, dandelions, and one single, solitary daisy. Thompson, Nate, and Lee all stepped aside as Soos came up to Tambry, stopping an arm's length away from her. At that point, he went down on one knee and offered his gift to her.

"This... is for you."

Tambry began to panic. And by panic, that meant talking in a cold, condescending tone.

"Popularity blows."

**-  
Chapter Six - Mad Scramble (03.04.03)  
-**

As Soos remained down on one knee in front of her, Tambry was unsure of what to do. Thankfully for her, Soos realized what he was doing.

"Oh! Really sorry. If this bouquet isn't adequate enough, I can go get a better one."

"Uh... that's ok-"

Soos stood up and ran off, searching for more flowers. Tambry looked at her friends, wanting to ask them...

"Uh, what just happened?"

Soos ran back the way he came, passing Mabel on the way.

"Hey, Soos!" she shouted at him. "What happened to you? You left us back in the cart, and then Dipper left before I could suggest looking for you..."

"No time, hambone!"

He stopped for a moment to hand Mabel the 'bouquet' he had, and then continued on without saying another word.

"I don't know what's going on," Mabel shouted back at him, "but even I'm not this desperate! **BE A MAN AND GO AFTER SOMEONE YOUR OWN AGE, SOOS!**"

By that point, though, Soos was out of earshot.

"Geez Louise! You're acting like a lovesick boy!"

Speaking of which, Dipper appeared out of nowhere. He unintentionally ran into her, almost knocking her off her feet. Luckily, Mabel spun around a few times, and she managed to gain control of her body and keep her balance.

"Sorry, Mabel!" Dipper apologized, looking back briefly at his sister but not stopping to check on her. "Gotta get to her before Robbie does!"

"Get to whom?"

Mabel was then nearly run over by Robbie, who hit her in the same way that Dipper had. Again, Mabel spun and got herself back to a righted position.

"**OUT OF THE WAY!**" Robbie yelled without looking back.

Mabel became suspicious after that latest near miss.

"First Soos, then Dipper, and now Robbie! Who's getting all this attention, and why am I not getting any of it?"

Mabel followed Robbie up the hill, curious to find out what was going on...

* * *

...but upon reaching the top of the trail, she started to wish she had not. Tambry was surrounded on three sides: Nate to her left, Lee to her right, and Thompson from behind. A few in front of her, her path was blocked by both Dipper and Robbie, who were actively fighting for Tambry's affection.

"I was here first, squirt!" grumbled Robbie.

"Nuh-uh!" argued Dipper. "I was! 'Sides, you already have Wendy!"

"I don't want her! You can have her!"

"No takebacks!"

"You never called that!"

"Well, I'm calling it now! No takebacks!"

"You can't do that!"

Robbie shoved Dipper back with one hand. Taking that as an attack on him, Dipper responded by taking the teenager down with a flying tackle. The two of them wrestled on the ground, rolling back and forth. The other boys cheered on the fighting.

"**GO! GO! GO! GO!**"

"What the what in the what-the-what?" questioned Mabel.

By this point, Tambry was definitely having second thoughts about her wish. But with the guys all distracted, she could use this chance to escape to some solitude.

She instead decided to pull out her phone to do another status update. But before she could even type a single letter, she felt someone grab with her at the waist with two hands.

Mabel.

"**WHY ARE YOU MISS POPULARITY ALL OF A SUDDEN?**"

Before Tambry could respond, Mabel started sniffing Tambry. She began with her hip, then moved on to her left hand, and then her belly button.

"Okay, **NOW** this is too much!" Tambry exclaimed.

"I smell perfume! Love potion-like perfume! **I WANT SOME!**"

One of the guys suddenly coughed.

"Uh... that's me."

Thompson raised a hand up in shame. Nate and Lee started snickering.

"I sprayed myself with my mom's perfume by accident! Stop laughing!"

Mabel was convinced about the perfume smell. But she still believed Tambry had something on her that was making her attractive to everyone.

"**WHAT'S YOUR SECRET? AAAAHHHH!**"

The second Mabel started charging for Tambry, she ran off.

"**I WANT WHATEVER YOU GOT, AND I'M NOT GIVING IT UP UNTIL YOU GIVE IT TO ME!**"

Tambry suddenly remembered she had something in hand that Mabel might want.

"Here... take it!"

She tossed Skull-13 in the air, in Mabel's direction. Mabel stopped her chase and jumped up to catch the talisman. But it ended up flying between her hands and landing on the ground, rolling for a few feet before coming to a stop right next to Dipper and Robbie, who were still wrestling.

Upon seeing the trinket, they stopped.

"Tambry threw that!" Robbie deduced.

"And it made her popular," stated Dipper. "So since she's now given it up, whomever claims it becomes the most popular person in Gravity Falls!"

The two stared at each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. Robbie then realized that Dipper was lying on top of him, and he could simply push him off and out of the way... which he did. Robbie then reached out for Skull-13, only to grab a hold of a clenched fist. Three of them, actually.

"Let go!" Robbie shouted.

"No, you let go!" Thompson, Nate, and Lee barked back, simultaneously.

The four teenagers started wrestling for possession of the talisman. Dipper attempted to jump into the fray, but he ended up getting hit with a punch in the face that had been meant for someone else. He stumbled backwards, spinning around a couple times before falling face-first in the dirt, right in front of his sister.

"Dipper!"

While she tended to her brother, the four teenagers continued to tussle. For a while, it seemed as if no one could gain the upper hand. Then, without warning, one of them ran out of the pile, holding Skull-13 above his head.

It was Lee.

"A-ha!"

The second they heard Lee speak, the other three stopped fighting each other and turned their attention towards their blond-haired friend.

"I just have to say the word and I'm more popular than Tambry? Cool!"

"Don't you dare, man!" threatened Robbie, pointing a finger in his direction.

Lee stuck his tongue out at Robbie and went ahead anyway.

"'I wish I was popular with everything!'"

The red eyes of the skull-shaped talisman lit up, granting Lee's wish instantly. A second later, he felt something on his foot. He looked down and saw a squirrel standing on it.

"Awww..."

He blinked, and when he opened his eyes, there was now a squirrel on his other foot as well. Blinking again, the two were then joined by four more. Even eight more appeared after a third blink.

"What the..."

Then they all jumped him at once, grabbing a hold of nearly every conceivable part of his body.

"Get 'em off me! **GET 'EM OFF ME!**"

As he fought to get the squirrels off, Lee tossed Skull-13 into the air. Nate ended up catching it.

"You gotta be careful with these things! Ahem... 'I wish I was popular with everything, except squirrels!'"

That wish was granted. Suddenly, Nate felt something crawling up his legs. A lot of something, that is. He looked underneath him and noticed that he was standing on a red ant hill... and all its occupants were coming out to say hello. Or attack him.

"**I'M NOT A PICNIC BASKET!**"

He threw the talisman at Thompson, and then he started rolling on the ground to try and get the ants off of him. Thompson caught it, and made a wish before Robbie could get over to stop him.

"'I wish for my own car!'"

Nothing happened.

"'I wish to not smell like my mom's perfume?'"

Again, nothing happened.

"'I wish you worked!'"

"Gimme that!" Robbie said, snatching it right from Thompson's hands.

"Aww..."

Thompson walked off in defeat, leaving no one to stand in Robbie's way.

"Alright, posers, let me show you how it's done!"

As Robbie got ready to make his wish, Mabel had succeeded in getting Dipper to come to.

"**NO!**" Dipper shouted. "Robbie will wish for Wendy to be his forever, and my live will be over!"

"You're alive!" bellowed Mabel, with relief. "And you're into Wendy again! Everything's back to normal!"

Nate and Lee ran by behind her, both still up to their armpits in squirrels and red ants, respectively.

"Good idea, kid," Robbie said, having overheard Dipper. "Time to make Wendy mine!"

Dipper gasped at his blunder.

"Now, gotta be careful. Can't make dumb mistakes like the others. 'I wish I knew what the rules for this thing were.' Wait, **NO!**"

Too late... Skull-13 granted his wish. Robbie grunted in frustration.

"**COME ON!** I only get one wish?"

Suddenly, Nate and Lee ran up to him, both still dealing with their problems.

"Undo my wish!" Nate screamed. "These ants are in my shirt!"

"Undo my wish!" barked Lee. "There's squirrels in my pants!"

They both reached up for the talisman at the same time. Before Robbie could get a good grip on it, they knocked it out of his hand. It rolled onto the ground, going 20 feet before stopping in front of Tambry.

"So over it."

Without looking up from her phone, she kicked it up into the air. The others watched as it bounced off of Thompson's belly as he lied despondently on the ground, sailed over the Pines' twins' heads, and landed smack dab in Wendy's hands.

"Wendy!" Dipper shouted. "Oh, thank goodness you caught it!"

But she did not seem as happy as he was.

"Enough! You guys are seriously messed up, man!"

She started walking away.

"Wendy... what are you doing?"

She headed towards the cliff, and right away Dipper figured out what she was going to do with it.

"Wendy, **NO!**"

With all her might, Wendy threw it off of Bramble Point. Dipper could do nothing but watch helplessly as gravity took hold of the rock-shaped object and send it plummeting to its destruction below.

**To be continued...**


	7. Enter Gideon!

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

You thought it was over. Well, not quite. This story can't reach its climax until one last player makes a grab for Skull-13...

...that is, if it wasn't smashed into a thousand pieces after the end of the last chapter...

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

* * *

It was morning in Gravity Falls, and the cops were paying a visit to the Gleeful residence.

"Good morning, sheriff!" greeted Bud Gleeful upon opening the door. "What brings you here so early in the mornin'?"

"Word is a bunch of kids went up to Bramble Point for the Night of the Twinkling Stars, and Deputy Durland and I are tryin' to round up suspects."

"Well, I'm afraid you came to the wrong place, officer. Gideon was up in his room all last night, planning his next big show!"

He then looked back at his only child, who was eating cereal on the couch.

"Ain't that right, Gideon?"

"You betcha!" Gideon replied, in his cheeriest tone of voice. "Only the best for my people!"

Sheriff Blubs chuckled. "Is that right? Well, if you see or hear anythin', you be sure to give us a call!"

"Well, by chance, do you boys need a psychic to help?"

"That's nice of you, but we're just one clue away from solving this."

Deputy Durland pulled out a Polaroid and held it out for Gideon, who had come over to look at it, to see. In the photo was a wooden skull.

"We found this suspicious object in the brush underneath the overlook. It seems as if someone threw it there."

"Really?"

"Oh, and we found him."

The sheriff pointed to the squad car, and Soos was in the backseat.

"Don't know what he was doin' up there, but..."

"No need to dilly-dally," Gideon proclaimed. "I've already figured it out! **TO THE MYSTERY SHACK, MWA HA HA HA!**"

**-  
Chapter Seven - Enter... Gideon! (03.25.13)  
-**

Dipper was re-reading the section in his book about Skull-13 as he sat on his bed.

"Dipper!"

He lowered the book from his face and saw Mabel standing in the doorway, wearing a white sweater with an elephant's head on it.

"You saw Wendy throw it over the cliff! It's over!"

"It can't be!" Dipper shouted, not willing to give up that easily. "That's not how these things work... all 13 wishes haven't been used yet! Someone's going to find that talisman and use it!"

"Pfft! No way!"

"Uh-huh way! Remember Pacifica knew what it was - well, kind of - and if she, of all people, knew what she had, you'd have to imagine pretty much everyone else in Gravity Falls has some knowledge of it!"

Mabel sat down next to Dipper and put an arm on his shoulder.

"Look, bro. I know you had your heart set on using that bauble to win over Wendy, but come on! You really wanted it to happen that way?"

"Well... not really."

"Besides, it's not like you're on a time crunch or anything. Right?"

Dipper sighed in defeat as he closed the book. Seeing this, Mabel rejoiced.

"**HURRAY!** Race ya to breakfast!"

Mabel ran out, and her brother chased after her.

"**WAIT UP!**"

* * *

Mabel arrived in the dining room first, and celebrated upon seeing freshly-made waffles on the table. And in Waddles' mouth, who was munching on a couple as he sat in Dipper's chair. By the time Dipper arrived, Mabel had picked up her pig and had moved him over to Grunkle Stan's empty seat.

"There ya go! You show that waffle who's the boss, Waddles! Show 'im!"

As Waddles munched on breakfast, Dipper had a pressing question to get off his chest.

"Where's Grunkle Stan?"

Suddenly, Dipper heard his great uncle's voice, coming from the front door.

* * *

Dipper went to the door and saw Stan talking with the police. Stan was looking down in shame at Soos, who was being released from his handcuffs.

"Serves you right!" barked Stan. "You, of all people, walked out on your shift? What am I even paying you for?"

"Actually, sir, you didn't pay me last week..."

"And I'm not gonna unless you get the Shack ready for business! We open in 20 minutes! **GET!**"

Soos ran off, leaving Stan to deal with the police.

"Alright, boys, how much is it gonna cost me to waive these charges? Wait, I'm thinking of a number... **ZERO!**"

The sheriff handed Stan a ticket, and he flipped out after seeing it.

"50? For trespassing? **THAT'S NOT EVEN A REAL CRIME!**"

"Ha ha!" laughed a high-pitched voice from behind the officers. "Stanford thinks his right-hand man is above the law."

Dipper stepped out of the doorway and next to Stan just as Gideon squeezed in between the two officers, revealing himself.

"Gideon? Ugh, should've known you were behind this farce!"

"This isn't a farce, Stanford! I'm just doing my itty bitty part as a citizen of Gravity Falls to uphold the law."

Stan scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"They also found something intriguing at the scene of the crime. **THIS!**"

He showed them the Polaroid, and Dipper gasped in shock before he could stop himself. And Dipper's reaction was all Gideon needed to know that whatever the object was in the photo, it was something special.

"Oh my! Dipper, do you know what this is?"

Dipper laughed nervously. "No! Of course not! I've never seen that thing in my life!"

Gideon narrowed his eyes in suspicion. But instead of moving on Dipper's slip-up, he handed the photo back to Sheriff Blubs.

"For once, I don't think the Pineses have anything to do with this."

"Agreed," Blubs said, nodding his head. "Let's go, Deputy."

"To go seek out another suspect?"

"No, to get a second round of C&D! Coffee and donuts! **WOO!**"

They left the scene, heading back into town. Gideon also departed, but he continued to keep his eyes focused on Dipper as he walked off.

"Yeesh!" grumbled Grunkle Stan. "That kid needs to take a long walk off a short pier. Literally!"

Dipper headed back inside.

"Hey, you two better not skip again!" the old man yelled after his great nephew. "We've got five tours of suckers today!"

* * *

Upon returning to the dining room, Dipper saw Waddles with his belly facing upwards and his mouth wide open. Mabel was on her knees next to him, holding a nearly-full bottle of maple syrup upside down over the pig's mouth, and was squeezing it out as fast as her hands could make it.

"Chug, Waddles! **CHUG, CHUG, CHUG!**"

"**MABEL! IT'S GIDEON!**"

Mabel quickly stashed the bottle behind her back. But she forgot to turn it right-side up, which meant that the syrup was now pouring onto the back of her legs.

"Why now? He can afford his own syrup! **ACK!** Sticky, sticky!"

She threw the bottle off to the side, and Waddles rolled after it, leaving the twins alone to converse.

"Mabel, he knows about Skull-13! Look, the sheriff had a photo of it! Well, a wooden knock-off, but it looks just like the real thing!"

"Shut up!"

"We have to stop him before he finds the real deal! We've got to get to Bramble Point!"

"Oh, no you don't!"

Grunkle Stan walked in, upset that the twins were planning to skip out on him again.

"But Grunkle Stan..."

"There's no excuse good enough to get you off work today! Now, go help Soos set up! Go, **GO!**"

"We're going, we're going!" exclaimed Dipper as Stan pushed him and Mabel towards the store.

* * *

A few hours later, all was quiet outside the Mystery Shack. Save for Lil' Gideon, who was creeping up to the window to take a peek in inside.

"Alright, Pines boy," Gideon said to himself, "you're hiding somethin' from me and I ain't leavin' 'til I find out what!"

He peered inside and saw that Dipper was sweeping the floor with a broom while Mabel lazily sat behind the cash register, struggling to stay awake.

"Of course, Grunkle left out the bit about all of the tours being in the afternoon, which would've given us plenty of time to get to Bramble Point, search, and get back!"

Mabel groaned. "Face facts, Dipper. Wendy chucked that thing into the next state! We're never, ever gonna see it again. **EVER!**"

Wendy walked into the room to start her shift...

"Hey, dorks!"

...and you would never guess what she had hanging around her neck.

"**WENDY!**" Dipper shouted. "Is that... is that?"

The two siblings ran over to her - the latter after spending a few seconds getting her legs unstuck from the side of the stool she had been sitting on - and that got Gideon's attention, as he watched with interest.

"Yep," the redhead confirmed. "That skull that made everyone crazy last night? I didn't really chuck it. I made a fake."

"A fake?"

* * *

Flashback to the previous night, right when Robbie left Wendy at Lover's Leap...

"I stargazed for a few, but it got lame pretty quickly," Wendy explained.

Wendy picked up a small, spherical-shaped piece of wood off the ground. Taking a small pocket knife out of her jeans pocket, she proceeded to whittle. A few minutes later, she had finished carving. The end result was an exact replica of Skull-13, despite the fact that, at the time, she had not seen it yet.

* * *

A little later, Wendy was seen catching the real Skull-13.

"You guys are seriously messed up, man!"

She started walking away.

"Wendy... what are you doing?"

With her back to everyone else, no one caught Wendy's sleight-of-hand, quickly swapping Skull-13 for the one she had just whittled. She pocketed the real one and threw the fake one off the cliff...

"Wendy, **NO!**"

...and no one knew any better. Until... now...

* * *

"Pretty clever, huh?"

Dipper was stunned in disbelief.

"Whew, that was close!" Mabel said, patting Dipper on the back. "Looks like you get to make that wish, huh, Dip? You know, about Wen-"

Dipper covered his sister's mouth to keep her from blurting out his wish.

"Oh, right!" Wendy recalled. "This thing-a-ma-bob grants wishes!"

"A mountainful of wishes!" blabbed Mabel. "Well, for 13 different people, each only getting one wish."

Dipper elbowed Mabel in the arm. "Mabel!"

"Oh, like she doesn't already know! She was there, remember? Everyone in this room knows!"

"As does this little piggy outside your window, Mabel," mumbled Gideon, from the other side of the window.

He was repressing the urge to laugh out loud as he eyed the talisman hanging from Wendy's neck, already believing that one wish was all he would need to ruin the Pines family once and for all.

**To be continued...**


	8. Not So Lil' Anymore

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

With Gideon now in the story, it's time to charge for the climax! What do you think his one wish is? Read on to find out!

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

* * *

Grunkle Stan was leading a tour group through the museum...

"Now, this next exhibit isn't for the faint of heart. It's the most terrible threesome to ever roam the forests of Gravity Falls! Thought to be lost to the passage of time, I give you..."

...and he stopped when he got to Wendy and the twins, who were all wearing blonde wigs and were dressed in the same So-Cal stylish outfit.

"I'm Hannah Montana," Wendy stated, in her best impression, "and nobody's perfect, ya'll!"

"I be Hannah Montana," shouted Mabel, with a Southern drawl, "and nobody be perfect, ya city slicker!"

She then spat into a small brass bucket that was at her feet.

"I also be Hannah Montana," grumbled Dipper, in his normal voice, "and nobody's perfect. Now, let me regale you with a song..."

Everyone in the tour group screamed in terror and ran down the hall to the next exhibit. Seeing them leave, Stan looked down at the ground to see if the group, in their haste, had dropped their wallets. Sadly, no one had, which made him angry. That, and the fact that the trio were laughing and high-fiving in glee.

"This is the best you three can come up with? I'm working with fools here!"

The girls were still laughing as they ran towards the gift shop. Dipper was following behind them, but he stopped when he thought he saw something or someone hiding behind a stuffed ten-foot long alligator.

"Meh," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Just a rat."

He should have been more suspicious, for as he left to catch up to the girls, he failed to see Gideon stick his head out from behind the gator, quietly giggling like a little school girl.

**-  
Chapter Eight - Not So Lil' Anymore (04.01.13)  
-**

Dipper ran into the gift shop, only to find it a mess. Unfolded souvenir T-shirts had been piled on top of one another, Grunkle Stan bobbleheads were lying on their sides, and a boy dressed as beagle was chewing all the imitation cat hairballs as if they were an entire pack of gum.

"Boo!" mumbled Wendy.

Mabel ran towards dogboy armed with a broom, and he bolted out of the shop at the speed of light. She then joined Dipper and Wendy in fixing everything up.

"Can't believe we're stuck inside here on a great day like today," Wendy said, with Dipper right next to her.

"Heh... I know, right?"

Wendy walked away with an armful of T-shirts. Dipper used this chance to mutter, under his breath...

"'At least I'm spending it with you.' Argh, why is that so hard to say?"

He joined Wendy at the counter, where they started folding shirts.

"So," Dipper asked her, "have you thought about you wanna wish for?"

"Nah, man," she replied. "I only get one of 'em, so I got make sure it counts!"

"I... I see."

Dipper took a deep breath. He was going to suggest something that had very little chance of her agreeing to, but he figured it was now or never.

"Wendy! I've got an idea!"

Out of the blue, Wendy snapped her fingers.

"**THAT'S IT!** Wait, you said you've got one too? We must be thinking the same thing, man."

"I-I-I hope so!"

Dipper walked to the other side of the counter, where Mabel joined him. Wendy held the talisman, still attached to the necklace, up in front of her. The redhead took a few seconds to clear everything from her mind except for the wish she was about to make... and then she made it.

"I wish... for the rest of the week off!"

The skull's eyes lit up, and the room was instantly filled with red light, blinding the three of them as well as Gideon, who was once more watching from the window. When the light subsided, Wendy and the twins looked around to see if the former's wish had come true.

"Aw, man, don't tell me the thing's busted."

She was about to take it off and attempt to fix it, when Stan stuck his head into the shop from the back.

"Wendy, you're on paid vaca 'til Saturday."

She could not believe what Stan was saying, so she had to ask him to repeat himself.

"Seriously?"

"You got me to say it once; I ain't sayin' it again! **GO!**"

Stan left, and Wendy did a pump fist in jubilation.

"**YES!** This thing does work!"

She threw the T-shirt she had in hand to the floor, and headed for the door. But she stopped short upon seeing a disappointed look on Dipper's face.

"Oh, I know what you want!"

Before Dipper could say a word, Wendy took off the necklace, opened his hands, and put the jewelry into them.

"Don't wish for anything I wouldn't, k?"

She gave him a pat on the head, er, hat, and then waved goodbye as she left.

"Later, dorks!" she said, affectionately.

A stunned Dipper stood there, with the talisman resting in the palms of his hands.

"Whoa! Wendy... gave me something! She gave me a gift! Mabel, she gave me a gift!"

Mabel smirked. "I see."

He placed it on the counter and leaned in to sniff it. But he stopped short.

"Uh, Mabel?"

Mabel already knew what he was concerned about, and she quickly made a zippering motion over her lips. Understanding, Dipper did the same. He then leaned in again, and...

"Stop sniffing rocks, you! Another bunch of suckers just arrived... places, people!"

The twins followed their great uncle back to the museum, with Dipper leaving the necklace on the counter. A few seconds later, the shadow of Gideon's pompous hairdo entered, hovering over the talisman itself.

* * *

Stan led the new group through the museum...

"And here we have two twin creatures once thought to be extinct..."

Stan stopped and nearly flipped when he saw his great niece and nephew wearing black wigs and dressed in fortune teller garb.

"I'm Raven Baxter!" Mabel proudly declared, "And it's the future I can see!"

"Mabe," Dipper objected, in a whispering tone, "I don't think she always dressed like a fortune teller."

"Don't break character, Dipper!"

Before Stan could berate them for another unimpressive imitation, the whole room was enveloped in a red light for a few seconds. At first, no one knew what was going on, but after a minute, the tour group started to applaud. Before Stan knew it, every single person in the bunch handed him a $5 bill.

"Carry on, then, kids!" he said gleefully as he led the tourists off. "Now, around the corner is by far the most atrocious piece of tourist trap bait ever!"

With the group moving on, the twins looked at each other.

"I hope that light wasn't what I thought it was," Dipper thought aloud.

* * *

They ran back to the gift shop, with Dipper immediately heading for the counter. As he had feared, the necklace with the talisman was gone.

"I hope Wendy just had a change of heart and came back for it."

Suddenly, a string of maniacal laughter could be heard coming from outside.

"Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! **PREPARE TO BOW TO ME, PINES FAMILY!**"

Dipper groaned. "I really, really, **REALLY** hope that's not Gideon outside with Skull-13, having made a wish that made him 30-feet tall and all-powerful."

Mabel had made her way over to the window, and was seeing something out front that matched Dipper's description.

"Dipper, it's Gideon! And you'll never guess how he's changed!"

The twins ran out the front door...

* * *

...and bared witness to a Gideon that wasn't so Lil' Gideon any more.

"**HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!**" he squealed, in a loud, booming voice.

"**NOOOOOO!**" the twins shouted, in unison.

Gideon looked down and saw the pint-sized siblings standing at his feet, shaking their fists in him at anger.

"**YOU'RE TOO LATE, DIPPER! I'VE SEEN WHAT SKULL-13 CAN DO, AND WITH IT, NO ONE WILL DARE STAND UP TO OR MOCK LIL' GIDEON EVER AGAIN!**"

"You can't do this, Gideon!" Dipper shouted up at the behemoth. "No one 30 feet tall can be adorable enough to win over the town!"

Gideon smirked. "**I'M WILLIN' TO TAKE THAT BET!**"

He reached down, hoping to grab Dipper. But he switched directions at the last moment, snatching up Mabel instead.

"**HEY!**"

"**MABEL! NO!**"

Mabel struggled to get out of Gideon's grip, to no avail. Dipper's mind started racing, as he tried to figure out a way to save his sister.

"Now what are you goofballs up to?"

Dipper turned around and saw Stan step out of the Shack.

"Is that Gideon? Squirt had one heck of a growth spurt!"

"Grunkle Stan! He's got Mabel! Do something!"

He pointed at his sister, who was trapped in Gideon's right fist, which was now up at his eye level.

"Bad Gideon!" scolded Mabel, as she continued to struggle. "You put me down right now, or I'll..."

"**OR YOU'LL WHAT? KICK ME WITH THOSE DAINTY LITTLE FEET OF YOURS? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!**"

Gideon felt a foot kick his shoe. He looked down and saw Stan trying to get his attention.

"Hey, Bighair! You gonna pick on kids all day, or you wanna mix it up with a real man?"

Gideon squatted down so he could stare right into Stan's soul. After a few seconds, the old man pulled out his wallet and threw it at Gideon's feet.

"Shut up and take my money!"

"Uh, Grunkle Stan?" questioned Dipper. "What are you doing?"

Stan took out the folded-up deed to the Mystery Shack from his inner vest pocket and put it on the ground.

"In fact, take the deed to Shack too! And all my clothes, too!"

Stan quickly stripped down until he was only wearing his boxers, tossing all his clothes on the grass as well. Gideon started laughing again.

"**HA! APPARENTLY BEING ALL-POWERFUL GIVES ME THE ADDED BONUS OF THE POWER OF OVERWHELMING SUGGESTION! NICE!**"

Stan got down on his knees and bowed before the new owner. With the old man no longer a threat, Gideon turned his sights on Dipper once more.

"**AND NOW, I KNOW JUST WHAT TO DO WITH IT!**"

"Dipper!" Mabel yelled. "**RUN!**"

Gideon reached down to grab Dipper with his free hand.

"**AAAAAHHHHHHHH!**"

**To be concluded...**


	9. The Final Wishes

**13 Wishes  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

Nothing to say this time except... enjoy the final chapter of "13 Wishes!"

**Disclaimer: **The characters of 'Gravity Falls' belong to Disney.

**-  
Chapter Nine - The Final Wishes (04.08.13)  
-**

"**AAAAAHHHHHHHH!**"

Dipper dived out of the way, just avoiding being snatched up by the 30-foot Gideon. He sprinted between the giant's legs as he tried to think of a plan to rescue Mabel.

"**COME HERE!**" yelled Gideon.

"What am I going to do?" Dipper thought to himself.

Suddenly, he came up with something. Dipper changed direction and made a beeline for Gideon's left leg. But the white-haired boy lifted it up and out of reach as he attempted to turn around. Dipper went for the right leg, but once again, Gideon anticipated it and lifted his leg up.

"**STAND STILL!**"

"No, you stand still!"

They continued this way for several minutes, with Dipper lunging towards one leg, Gideon dodging him, and then switching to the other leg and doing the same. As this was occurring, Mabel was still attempting to pull herself free. She had managed to get her arms out, and she was now using those to give her some leverage.

"Ugh! Umph!" Mabel grunted. "Leggo!"

Pushing against the top of Gideon's hand with all her might, Mabel finally succeeded in freeing herself.

"**YES! SUCCESS!**"

Now standing on top of Gideon's clenched hand, she could see part of a necklace hanging out from the boy's left shirt pocket.

"The talisman!"

She started running on Gideon's right arm. That got Gideon's attention, though, and he diverted his focus from avoiding and/or squashing Dipper to recapturing Mabel.

"Come here, cutie pie!"

Gideon attempted to pluck Mabel from his right arm using his left hand. Mabel, though, dodged it by vaulting upwards and flying towards her captor's shirt pocket. Or more likely, the necklace hanging out of it.

Down below, Dipper got into a position to see his sister, and he could immediately tell what she was doing was dangerous.

"Mabel, **NO!**"

Mabel closed her eyes and prayed in her mind that her arms were strong enough to not only grab onto the necklace, but to hang onto it. Because if not...

"**AAAAAAHHHHHHH!**"

She felt her hands touch the necklace, and she clenched them hard around it, aware that her momentum threatened to pull her off if she did not. With nothing but will power on her side, Mabel managed to secure her hands in a good holding position.

"I did it? **DIPPER, I DID IT!**"

"**MABEL, LOOK OUT!**"

But it was too late. Gideon lifted the necklace up out of his pocket, with both Skull-13 and Mabel still attached. Gideon snickered as he raised Mabel up until she was at eye level with him. While he did that, though, Dipper finally got a hold of Gideon's left leg, and he started climbing up it.

"**YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME, MABEL PINES! THEN AGAIN, TEE HEE... SOON YOU'LL BELONG TO ME TOO!**"

"How many times do I have to say it?" Mabel screamed as her legs flailed about, while attempting to pull the necklace free. "No means **NO**!"

Mabel could not break it off, but in the heat of the moment, another good, yet risky idea popped into her head. One that was possible since she was on the short end of the strand.

"**DIPPER! HOT POTATO!**"

Dipper, who had climbed up to Gideon's outer thigh by this point, stopped and looked up upon hearing his sister's shout. By that point, she had already put her plan into action...

...and it involved making a second leap of faith, this time from the short end of the necklace to the one with Skull-13 attached. Both boys instantly figured out her plan, as well as the certainly deadly end result.

"**NOOOOOOOOOO!**" they both screamed, seemingly in slow-motion.

In mid-air, Mabel reached for Skull-13. She grabbed a hold of it with all of her might, and without hesitation, made a wish.

"I wish for Skull-13 to be free from the necklace!"

In one instant, the talisman's eyes lit up red, and in the next, the link connected it to the necklace shattered. Gravity took over from there, as Mabel, grasping the trinket in her hands, fell towards Earth.

"**MABELLLLLLLLL!**" Dipper screamed.

Gideon made an attempt to save the love of his life, scooping his free hand downward in hopes of catching her in time.

That was exactly what Mabel had predicted.

Mabel managed to turn her falling body just enough so that she could just see Dipper out of the corner of her eye. She then chucked Skull-13 as hard as she could in his direction. With Gideon focused on trying to save her life, that left her brother with a clear shot to end it all right there and then.

"**DIPPERRRRR!**"

Dipper gripped Gideon's pant leg tightly with one hand, and then reached up in the nick of time to catch Skull-13 with the other. He already knew what his wish had to be.

It was not the one he wanted, but it was the one he had to make.

"I wish... **I WISH FOR ALL OF THE PREVIOUS WISHES TO BE UNDONE!**"

The skull's eyes lit up red once more, but this time the ensuing flash of light not only blinded the three of them, but also Grunkle Stan, the Mystery Shack, and the entirety of Gravity Falls and everyone that lived in it.

* * *

When the light finally faded several minutes later, Dipper found himself safely on the ground. His first concern was the welfare of his sister. Thankfully, Mabel was just fine, as she was sitting on something a few feet away.

"Mabel! Thank goodness you're okay!"

"No prob!" she exclaimed, as Dipper ran over to help her to her feet. "Gideon broke my fall."

Sure enough, underneath Mabel, with his face and body partially implanted into the ground, was Gideon. Once he felt Mabel's weight shift off of his back, the pompadoured kid pushed himself up to his knees, and then his feet. He spat some dirt out of his mouth as he turned incredulously towards Mabel.

"Sorry. Guess I shouldn't have ate that fifth waffle! Hyuck!"

"Argh!" growled Gideon. "I was so close! Or... maybe I still am! **MWA HA HA HA!**"

He held up the deed to the Mystery Shack, prompting the twins to gasp in shock. Grunkle Stan, on the other hand - and thankfully, fully dressed once more - was laughing hysterically.

"What are you laughing at, Stanford?" Gideon asked incredulously.

"That's not a deed to the Shack! It's... it's... ha ha, **HA!**"

Stan was laughing too hard to say it, but all Gideon had to do was look at the parchment he had to discover that he was now the owner of...

"The Gravity Falls **TAR PITS**?"

"Yeah!" Stan said, slapping his knee. "I've been trying to unload that money hole of a tourist attraction for years! Good luck finding a sucker to buy that dump from you, sucker! **HA!**"

Gideon quickly tore up the document in anger. He then turned to Dipper and snatched Skull-13 from the brown-haired boy's hands.

"I've still got one last trick up my lil' ol sleeve!" Gideon proclaimed.

"Wish-ful thinking there, Gideon," replied Dipper.

Mabel groaned at the pun.

"But the talisman only allows one wish per person. Ever."

"Maybe so. But all I have to do is find someone in town who hasn't used it and get them to make my wish for me! Then who'll have the last laugh, boy?"

Suddenly, a red light enveloped Skull-13. Gideon watched in horror as the talisman disintegrated in the palm of his hand, before being scattered to the winds by a well-timed breeze.

"Dipper!" Mabel shouted, looking at her brother. "You know what this means? Your wish must've been number 13!"

Dipper continued his twin's thought. "And thus, since the talisman's carried out its one and only purpose, it no longer has reason for existing. I guess."

Gideon started backing away, shaking his fist threateningly at the Pines family.

"I don't care how long it takes, but mark my words, Pines family! The Shack **WILL** be mine! Mine! **MINE!**"

With that, Gideon stomped off, deciding to make the long trek back home on foot, rather than wait for the bus. Meanwhile, with their nemesis defeated, Dipper and Mabel high-fived each other in celebration.

* * *

That evening, as the sun was beginning to set and the Mystery Shack had closed its doors for the day, Dipper and Mabel were sitting on wooden chairs in front of the shop. It was far from comfortable, though, as it was still hot enough for them to feel as if they were frying under the lowering sun.

"Man," grumbled Dipper, "after all that, we never got a chance to wish for cooler weather!"

"And you never got a chance to wish for Wendy to be your girlfriend!"

Mabel started smacking her lips, as if to imitate her brother kissing Wendy.

"Stop!"

"Heh."

"Seriously, though... I still have the rest of the summer to get her to like me. What is that, ten weeks?"

"Nine, but who's counting?"

Suddenly, Grunkle Stan stepped out onto the porch. And he was not pleased.

"Whose dumb idea was it to give Wendy paid time off? Kids?"

The two looked at him and shook their heads.

"Well, whoever it is, they're pulling a double shift with her tomorrow!"

He then headed back inside, but not before mumbling...

"Do you people think I'm made of money?"

The duo laughed once more. Once Stan was back inside, they went back to lounging.

"Say," Dipper suddenly spoke up, "something's bothering me."

"Yeah?" asked Mabel.

"I've gone through the numbers several times, and I came up with only 12 people who made wishes. Who's unaccounted for?"

Mabel shrugged. Dipper tried to come up with a 13th name, but eventually decided to give up on figuring it out.

"Eh. No matter what, my wish undid all the others."

"Yeah. I guess we'll never know, huh?"

The two went back to relaxing underneath the rays of the late evening sun.

* * *

An unknown number of years ago, at the Gravity Falls Tar Pits...

Stan was among five or six people at a silent auction for the deed to the tourist attraction, which the owner had for sale. He was the last person in the group to submit a bid, but before turning it in, he reached into the inner pocket of his suit and pulled out his good luck charm.

Skull-13.

"I paid three bucks for you," he told it, "so you'd better come through. I wish for me to win this auction!"

He stepped towards the real estate agent, who was the one collecting the bids. A quick flash of red light washed over the entrance area, but Stan seemed to wave it off as nothing. Suddenly, without warning, a freak tornado appeared out of nowhere, sweeping up the agent, the other bidders, along with all the other bids, away, never to be seen again.

"Well," said the owner, "I guess that leaves one choice."

Stan handed the folded-up paper to the owner, and then snatched the rolled-up deed from under the latter's arm. The seller unfolded the piece of paper, and he became enraged by the number on it.

Zero.

"Pleasure doin' business with you... **SUCKER!**" Stan shouted from his car.

Stan laughed maniacally as he drove away, leaving the seller of the then-lucrative property having given away the attraction for nothing.

**The End**

**Author's Notes:  
**And on that note, you've reached the end of my first "Gravity Falls" fanfic! What did you think? It was fun writing these characters for the first time, some obviously more than others. It also helped that the show returned during the course of this story being posted, which provided even more inspiration for me to draw from.

I'd love to do another "Falls" story soon, but first I have to make sure you liked this one! So if you would be so kind, leave a review and let me know what you thought of "13 Wishes." And keep an eye on my profile page and my Twitter feed for announcements of any future "Falls" fics!

Thanks for reading, and see you next time, folks!

- Freedom Fighter


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